Archive for the ‘Bihar’ Category

Patna, Dec. 20: Security forces have launched intensive search in three rebel-hit districts, on the Indo-Nepal border, following the death of three CRPF jawan in an encounter with Maoist guerrillas in Motihari last night.

“Paramilitary forces are carrying out intensive combing operations in East Champaran, Muzaffarpur and Sheohar districts,” said the inspector-general (operations) in Bihar, S.K. Bhardwaj.

Talking to The Telegraph, he added: “The forces have not yet returned. So, we can not give you the exact figure of the number of arrests as of now.”

The CRPF team engaged in crossfire with the guerrillas at Kadma under Rajepur police station in East Champaran district. A team of 150 cadre was passing through Lakshminia villager in Sheohar in the wake of a police raid there, when the force found them. The Maoists who were heavily armed and far more in number in comparison to security forces, exchanged rounds of fire with the CRPF men killing the latter’s deputy commandant, Vinay Kumar Kapil, and two other jawans.

Last night there were reports of a Maoist being killed in the crossfire, but today the villagers identified the slain person to be a Kadma resident.

Three other villagers, including a girl, were also injured in the crossfire. Maoists have been protesting the death of their comrade Nagina Majhi in Beur central jail here on Saturday night across the state, including the Bihar jails.

Today, they gave a call for a 24-hour Bihar bandh. “No untoward incident has been reported so far from any part of the state,” said a home department spokesperson.

Reportedly, the 150-odd cadre divided themselves in three groups and launched a multi-pronged attack on the security forces.

However, with more re-enforcement reaching in late last night, the security forces succeeded in breaking the groups.

Sources in the BSF and the CRPF reveal that the Naxalites have added more fire power particularly in areas under Sitamarhi, Sheohar, East and West Champaran and Muzaffapur districts bordering Nepal because of a growing nexus with their Nepal counterparts.

PATNA: A total 23 policemen were killed in 2007 in encounters with naxals, who lost 12, official sources said on Thursday.

Eight policemen were killed in Rohtas district, which accounted for the maximum number, followed by four in Lakhisarai, three in East Champaran, two in Bhagalpur.

Gaya, Buxar, Jammui, Sheohar, Sitamarhi and Saharsa districts reported killing of one police personnel each in encounters during the year, figures made available by the police heaquarters said.

The police in its turn killed seven naxals in Gaya, three in West Champaran and two in Rohtas district, the sources said.

The sources said in about 171 incidents of naxal-related violence in 29 out of 38 districts of the state during the year, 39 common men lost their lives. In Gaya district alone 12 innocent people were killed in such violence, followed by 6 in Munger, 5 in East Champaran, 4 in Rohtas, 3 each in Jammui and Saran, 2 in Arwal and 1 each in Vaishali, Lakhisarai, Aurangabad and Purnea.

The naxals killed three policemen including a deputy superintendent of police of CRPF, V K Kapil in an encounter which lasted for over several hours on the borders of Motihari and Sheohar districts adjacent to Indo-Nepal borders late Wednesday night.

The sources said the naxals also looted 37 weapons in their attacks on police stations and outposts during the year.

The police also recovered 160 firearms from the possession of arrested naxals. The arms included self loading rifles and stenguns besides, 2916 detonators, 35 can bombs, 4800 live cartridges, 2476 kg of explosive materials during the year, the sources added.

In a fierce encounter between the law-enforcement officials and heavily-armed Maoists in Kadma in Western Champaran district on Wednesday, CRPF 153 Battalion DSP V. K. Kapil and two jawans were gunned down while three ultras were also shot dead though the police could recover the body of only one down extremist.

Reports said more than 60 ultras arrived at Lakshminia village in Sheohar district and invaded the house of village chief Kapildeo Narayan Singh. Finding the mukhia not at house, the Naxals took away his 25-year old son with them.

Sensing the police closing in, the ultras fled towards West Champaran where they engaged in a violent battle with Central Reserve Protection Force jawans led by DSP Kapil.

Kapil fell to a bullet fired by the ultras just as two other jawans were hit and killed, reports said.

More than a dozen security officials and several ultras were also hurt in the incident, the police said.

Senior police officials including S. K. Bharadwaj, IG Operations, and the IG of Muzaffarpur have arrived in Kadma to monitor the situation as hundreds of Special Auxiliary Police (SAP) and CRPF jawans have been engaged in combing the area to apprehend the criminals.

Patna, Dec 19 – After Maoists lodged in the Beur jail here, it is the turn of prisoners in the Jehanabad jail to raise a banner of revolt. Over 300 inmates, including 67 Maoists, went on a hunger strike Wednesday.

They are demanding action against jail officials responsible for last week’s suicide by a Maoist inmate in Beur jail.Nagina Manjhi, 40, a member of the outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist), committed suicide Dec 14. He was found hanging from the iron gate of the jail infirmary where he was being treated for a minor ailment.The prisoners in Jehananbad, about 50 km from here, also protested the use of force by the police against agitating Maoist inmates in Beur Tuesday.Official sources said 67 of the 328 inmates on hunger strike are Maoists and 135 belong to the Communist Party of India-Marxist Leninist (CPI-ML).The inmates have also demanded Rs.500,000 as compensation for Manjhi’s kin.

All efforts by jail authorities to end the hunger strike have failed.’We have been trying hard to convince the protesting inmates to end the hunger strike,’ a jail official said.The inmates are also protesting against lack of facilities and inhuman living conditions.Like other prisons in the state, Jehanabad jail is overcrowded. It now has over 700 prisoners. The jail, built during the British rule, has a capacity for 120 inmates.Soon after the jailbreak in Jehanabad district by Maoists in November 2005, the Nitish Kumar government declared that jails in the state vulnerable to Maoist attack would be revamped.Overcrowding is common in jails across the state.

As many as 48,000 prisoners are lodged in different jails against the total capacity of 21,745, officials said.The police used force to break the daylong siege of Patna’s high-security Beur jail by Maoist inmates Tuesday evening and launched a massive search operation in the cells to seize hidden arms, ammunition and cell phones.

Patna, Dec. 18: Some 300 Maoist prisoners today seized control of a heavily fortified Bihar jail, turning a patch of land 4km from the heart of the state capital into a “liberated zone” for eight hours.

The rebellion underlined the Maoists’ ability to disrupt high-security prisons two days after some 100 rebels had pulled off a lightning jailbreak in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada.

At the Beur Central Jail in Patna today, unarmed Maoist prisoners beat up the guards, vandalised the kitchen and gathered in the courtyard under a Buddha statue.

There they stayed from 7am till almost 3pm while the guards huddled near a boundary wall, leaving the entire premises with 2,000 other prisoners at the Maoists’ mercy.

The unrest was quelled only after some 200 specially trained police jawans were brought in and used their batons to drive the prisoners back into the wards, jail sources said.

A handful of crude bombs were discovered along with 14 mobile phones in the cells, but the rebels clearly hadn’t wanted to use weapons.

Officials said the prisoners could have broken out of the jail between 7am and 10am, when reinforcements arrived, but obviously hadn’t planned an escape but only a rebellion.

The trigger for the revolt seemed to be Saturday’s suicide by guerrilla leader Nagina Majhi in his Beur cell, which had prompted a jail hunger-strike. But intelligence agencies say the CPI (Maoist) also has a strategy to cause unrest at prisons across the country.

The prisoners today pounced on the guards during the 6.30am headcount and chased them out of the wards.

Next, they broke open the iron door of the cell of Ajay Kanu alias Raviji, the mastermind of the November 2005 jailbreak by nearly 400 Maoists in Bihar’s Jehanabad. They also freed another Maoist leader.

Kanu, arrested in June and believed to have headed the “people’s guerrilla army” in Bihar and Jharkhand, was clearly the man in charge, sources said.

A few dozen non-Maoist prisoners, egged on by the rebels, joined them in the courtyard. The rebels shouted demands for a probe into Majhi’s death, Rs 25 lakh for his family and improved jail conditions. Some alleged “torture” by the authorities.

The government began talks around 10am, after inspector-general (prisons) Sandip Pondrik, district magistrate B. Rajendra and district police chief K. Krishnan arrived at the head of 500-odd Special Auxiliary Police and Special Task Force jawans.

But the prisoners stood firm, refusing to board the jail vans that were to take them to courts. Around 2.30pm, about 200 jawans were sent in. Pondrik denied the use of force.

Former state police chief R.R. Prasad said Majhi’s death must be thoroughly probed. “Hardcore Naxalites do not commit suicide because of physical torture. Majhi must have been mentally tortured,” he said.

Patna, Dec 18: In a replay of the jailbreak in Chhattisgarh, hundreds of agitating Maoist inmates took control of the inner wing of Patna’s high-security Beur jail Tuesday, protesting against alleged ill treatment by jail authorities.

“At present, Maoist inmates have taken full control of large parts of the jail,” a district official said.

It all started when Maoist inmates attacked police personnel on duty inside the jail, forcing them to flee. The inmates freed two top Maoist leaders, including Ajay Kanu, by breaking open the iron door of the cell where they were lodged.

Kanu was the mastermind behind the Jehanabad jailbreak when around 300 inmates, including 150 Maoists, escaped in 2005. He was later arrested and lodged in Beur jail.

The Maoists also reportedly assaulted some inmates, including a legislator, who tried to pacify them.

Maoists have been staging protests inside the jail premises for the last few days after Nagina Manjhi, 40, a member of the outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist), committed suicide Dec 14.

Manjhi was found hanging from the iron gate of the jail infirmary where he was being treated for a minor ailment.

Official sources said over 300 Maoists were lodged in Beur jail. The Maoist inmates have found support from hundreds of other inmates.

According to jail officials, there are about 2,400 inmates in Beur jail, almost more than double the capacity of the prison.

Patna, Dec 18 – Hundreds of agitating Maoist inmates continued their siege of the inner wing of Patna’s high-security Beur jail Tuesday, protesting against alleged ill treatment by the jail authorities even as officials began a dialogue with them to end the stalemate.

Inspector General (Law and Order) Bihar Police Anil Sinha claimed the situation was under control in Beur jail and negotiations were on with the agitating Maoist inmates.’The situation is under control. We are continuing negotiations with the Maoist inmates and looking into their demands,’ Sinha told newspersons.He said top officials of the jail department, police and district administration were negotiating with the agitating Maoist inmates.’Hopefully, everything will be resolved soon,’ Sinha said.Downplaying the Maoists’ siege, Sinha said only 200 Maoist inmates have been agitating in support of their demands, including a probe into a suicide by a Maoist inmate, Nageena Manjhi, a few days ago in the jail.According to sources in the district administration, negotiations with the Maoist inmates could not succeed as they have demanded a compensation of Rs.2.5 million for Manjhi’s kin.Armed personnel of the Bihar Police, Special Task Force and Special Auxiliary Police have moved closer to the jail, ready to use force to break the siege, should that be necessary officials said.

It all started when Maoist inmates attacked police personnel on duty inside the jail, forcing them to flee. The inmates freed two top Maoist leaders, including Ajay Kanu, by breaking open the iron door of his cell.Kanu was the mastermind behind the 2005 Jehanabad jailbreak when around 300 inmates, including 150 Maoists, escaped. He was later arrested and lodged in Beur jail.The Maoists also reportedly assaulted some inmates, including a legislator, who tried to pacify them.Maoists have been staging a protest inside the jail premises for the last few days after Nagina Manjhi, 40, a member of the outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist), committed suicide Dec 14.(c) Indo-Asian News Service

Ranchi IANS 12/17/2007 / The Jharkhand police have drawn up a plan to fight a psychological war against Maoist rebels.

The Jharkhand police had sent a proposal to the state home department in November, seeking permission to launch a psychological war against Maoist rebels through television, radio and newspapers.

“A proposal has been sent to the state home department which includes making of a 30-minute film to expose the crimes of Maoist rebels. Radio and newspapers will also be used to expose their misdeeds,” a police official told IANS.

He said “the proposal was sent to the home department after formal discussion with the chief minister and other government officials.”

The proposal includes publishing photographs of Maoist rebels in newspapers, publishing lists of properties damaged by rebels in the last seven years, collection of illegal taxes by rebels and where the money has been spent, exposing the reportedly lavish lifestyles of its leaders and sexual exploitation of its women cadres.

Seminars at schools and colleges will also be organised to sensitise people about Maoist misdeeds, the officer said. Interviews of police officials will be aired on radio and television.

The 30-minute film will be shown to people through Doordarshan, which has a large reach in rural areas. It will include confessional statements of detained Maoist leaders.

“We cannot fight Maoist rebels unless we get the support of common people living in rural areas. Maoists provoke the rural people against police and the government. We must adopt methods to expose them in their strongholds,” the official said.

Maoist rebels have also come out with an audio and video CD to propagate to the masses how the ruling and business class have ruined the state.

The 22-minute film shows how the security personnel enter villages and harass people in the name of anti-Maoist operations. It also shows how police falsely implicate innocent people as insurgents.

The group has made nearly 5,000 copies of the film that will be shown in the villages for seeking support from people and instigate villagers against police and the government.

Maoist rebels are active in 18 of the 24 districts in the state. Nearly 1,000 people have been killed in terrorism-related violence in the state in the last seven years.

PATNA, Dec. 11: In what is being considered a move by Maoists to get a foothold in north Bihar after they established their “domain” in large parts of south, central and western Bihar, armed extremists raided the house of a panchayat head at Sukki village in Vaishali last night, killing three villagers. The extremists set ablaze two luxury vehicles of the panchayat head who escaped death. The mukhia, Indra Mohan Singh alias Gugul Singh, who has more than 12 cases of kidnapping, extortion and loot lodged against him with various police stations, is alleged to have established a reign of terror and had been challenging the extremists’ might. According to reports, about 80 Maoists, dressed in Army and police fatigues, swooped down on the village. Police said about 150 rounds of ammunition were fired. All the three who died were the mukhiya’s kin. Some others sustained injuries. Reports said the Maoists bade the villagers to stay indoors.

According to reports, many women took part in the operation that lasted for about an hour. Police said the common people were terrorised by the mukhiya. They have, however, launched a combing operation against the Maoists.

On Saturday, the extremists blasted an abandoned three-storeyed police outpost at Mahindbara in Sitamarhi. Maoists have gone on the rampage after a Banka court awarded death sentence to five extremists on 6 December, for killing three policemen two years ago. n SNS

Naxalites attacked Sukki village in Patepur in Vaishali district, some 30 km from state capital. More than 100 rounds had been fired by the attacking group in order to spread panic in the area. According to eye witness the Maoists were more than 50 in numbers and were firing madly. They were looking for the Mukhiya of the Sukki village.

The police could reach the spot only after 4 hours of accident. A dozen of Naxalites with modern weapons encircled the house of the Mukhiya IndraMohan Singh alias Bigul Singh and searched for him. Finding him nowhere they fired insane at others present in the home.BMP and CRPF has been alerten in the area. Police has taken the area into its custody and various team of police party has been formed, searching the entire area. DIG Arbind Pandey has confirmed the death of three persons and informed the media that bodies were sent for post-mortem. Anil Kumar, KapilDeo and Abhay Kumar has been identified as dead. DGP Ashish R. Sinha has told the situation under control.

Police start hunt for red killers

OUR CORRESPONDENT

Patna, Dec. 11: Vaishali district police has launched a massive combing operation after Maoists reportedly killed three persons and injured another in an attack last night.

Police believe that the Naxalites had primarily targeted the panchayat leader of Sukki, under Patepur block some 50 km from here. Adjoining police stations have also joined the search for the rebels in neighbouring villages.

Inspector-general (operation) S.K. Bhardwaj said a special force from Patna has been sent to the spot as there are possibilities of Naxalites targeting Singh’s house again. Mahua sub-divisional police officer Arvind K. Gupta conceded that since the headman was not at home during the attack, he survived, while indiscriminate firing killed three and injured another. The victims are Arun Kumar, Kapildev and Abhay Kant, all between 30 to 40 years.

The Naxalites, who put the headman’s jeep on fire, also asked the villagers to not be afraid, as they had come in “search of Singh”.

The villagers have reportedly said that Singh was targeted because he “dared” to challenge the Maoists and had countered some of their attacks. Police added that the headman had criminal cases pending against him and had engaged into property disputes with many people. Sukki is on the border of Vaishali and Muzaffarpur.